Stevidot Month 2019
by sinderella0069
Summary: A month of StevenxPeridot one-shots based on prompts I found on Tumblr. Ratings will range from K to M. Week One (K)/ Week Two (K)/Week Three (M)/Week Four (a) (K)/ Week Four (b) (T)/Week Five - Steven and Peridot fuse for the first time and they're very eager to get to know themselves better. (M)
1. LOVE AT TWENTY-FIRST SIGHT (K)

These will all be Steven x Peridot stories. If Steven x Peridot stories are not your thing, I suggest you turn back now, because I will not be all that happy if every single comment I get is a complaint that it's Steven x Peridot stories. You have been warned.

Ratings differ for each week.

Prompt for week one - Confession, Cuddles, Love at First Sight

xxx

LOVE AT TWENTY-FIRST SIGHT (K)

The guards brought her in and threw her at the feet of the Supreme Ruler. He raised the staff aloft, ready to strike...

"Father, no!" The Prince threw himself between them. "Don't hurt her!"

The Supreme Ruler frowned. "She has betrayed our people and sold our secrets to our enemies. Give me one good reason why I should spare her life!"

"Because..." The Prince cast a longing look back towards the prisoner. "Because I love her!"

Unfortunately, whatever the Supreme Ruler had to say about that was completely drowned out by a loud and derisive snort from Peridot. "You met her _yesterday!_" she yelled at the screen.

"Aww, come on, Peridot!" Steven said with a small laugh. "Don't you believe in love at first sight?"

"No," she flatly replied. "It takes time to develop that sort of meaningful bond. Why, when I first saw _you_-" She stopped abruptly. "Ah, I-I mean... I acknowledge that everybody makes judgements about people on first sight and in some rare circumstances, that could be perceived as 'love', but it's impossible to really _know _somebody without spending a significant amount of time with them. All they need to do is open their mouth and belittle you and ignore your ideas and shout at you-" Once again, she stopped abruptly and took a deep breath. "And you realize, you loved who you _thought_ they were, not who they really were."

"Hey, Peridot..." Steven said softly.

"Conversely," she said, ignoring the interruption, "you could see somebody and think nothing of them. But then they show you kindness and understanding even while you're at your absolute _worst_, and then one day, you're standing in front of a projection of the person you thought you loved, and you have a chance to redeem yourself in their eyes, but it would mean betraying this _other_ person, and you just can't do it. Somewhere along they way, they've become more important to you than your Dia- other person. And the more time you spend with them, the more your feelings change. Love at first sight isn't real, but perhaps love at say, twenty-first sight... I believe in that."

Steven opened his mouth and then shut it again. Had she just, in a roundabout way, confessed to him? He glanced sideways at her, but she stared straight ahead, her gaze fixed firmly on the television and a tell-tale dark green blush on her cheeks. "I guess I understand what you mean," he said carefully. "When I first saw you, I thought you looked really cool and smart and pretty. And then you tried to crush me with a giant fist."

Peridot groaned and hid her face in her hands. "Ugh..."

"But then I got to know you," he continued. "And I found out you really were cool and smart and pretty. Not to mention curious, loyal, brave... and a tiny cutie-pie."

"Uggghhhhhh!" she groaned louder.

"So you see," he persisted, "love at first sight doesn't really exist, you're right, but that doesn't mean first impressions are always completely wrong." He paused. "I'm glad I was right about you."

She peeked at him from between her fingers and then slowly lowered her hands. "I'm glad I was wrong about you."

They grinned stupidly at each other for several seconds, then Steven cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the movie. "I've missed everything that just happened," he complained lightly.

"Oh, she betrayed him again, killed his father and stole the Sacred Stone," Peridot explained at once.

"Yikes." He raised his eyebrows. "So, definitely _not_ love at first sight."

"It would appear not." She glanced at him. "Although... there is a sequel out now. Perhaps it'll turn out it was all a misunderstanding."

"Yeah, I suppose that could happen," he admitted with a laugh, and pulled her in for a hug. "So..." he asked hopefully. "You wanna go see it with me and see if we're right?"

She smiled back up at him and relaxed in his embrace. "Yes. I'd like that."


	2. LEGENDS OF LIGHT (K)

Prompt for week two - Video Games, Birthdays, Blush

LEGENDS OF LIGHT (K)

"So what are you guys getting Steven for his birthday?" Amethyst asked, throwing herself onto the dilapidated old sofa (even more dilapidated after being thrown at Blue Diamond) that sat in the middle of the new barn.

"Hi. Come in. Make yourself at home," Peridot said sarcastically.

"Shh, you. You don't live here any more," Amethyst cheerfully reminded her.

Peridot cringed and glanced at Lapis, but thankfully, the the gem didn't seem to have noticed Amethyst's comment. Instead, she was tapping her fingers thoughtfully on her chin. "Burrfday... ah, I know that one!" She snapped her fingers. "That's the thing where humans celebrate the passage of a year. So how many years is Steven?"

"He'll be fifteen," Amethyst said.

Lapis nodded slowly. "Hundred?"

"Nope, just fifteen," she clarified.

The blue gem's eyes widened. "Wow! Really? Is that all?"

Amethyst chuckled. "Yeah, I know, right? Humans!"

"So, Steven's birthday!" Peridot interjected quickly. "Will he be having another party?"

Amethyst shrugged. "Dunno. Probably not, his last two were a bit crap, he might want to just chill this year."

Lapis frowned, trying to understand. "So why are you asking us about gifts then if there's not going to be a party? Gifts only get exchanged during parties," she explained as Amethyst looked quizzically at her. "...Right?"

"Jeez, you need to stop getting your Earth info from Camp Pining Hearts," Amethyst muttered.

"I get it from Peridot," Lapis corrected.

"Who gets it from Camp Pining Hearts, Amethyst pointed out. Peridot opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Amethyst spoke again. "All right! Birthday etiquette crash course time! First, yes, sometimes there is a party with cake and gifts and stupid hats and games. But not always. However, friends and family of the birthday boy still have to pinch his cheek and tell him how much he's grown and wish him a happy birthday and get him a gift, or everyone secretly thinks they're an asshole," she said, with a pointed look in Peridot's direction.

"My gift was to continue working on the drill, so that it was actually functional and finished when the Cluster started to emerge," Peridot shot back. "In fact," she added smugly, "my gift last year is the entire reason we are all able to celebrate Steven's birthday _this_ year!"

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, whatever. But get him something nicer this year. And wrap it up."

"What sort of gift should we get him?" Lapis asked, ignoring the discussion about whether a drill counted as an acceptable birthday gift or not.

"Dunno," Amethyst said again. "Still haven't figured out what I'm gonna get him myself yet. Maybe I'll warp over to Asia and get him a case of Cookie Cats, they still sell 'em in Japan."

"We don't have any money though," Peridot suddenly realized. She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Although I suppose we could barter our skills..."

"Nah, no need for that," Amethyst said, dismissing the suggestion with a wave of her hand. "Just make him something. Handmade gifts are neat, and you're both into that kind of arty-farty meep morp shit anyway."

Lapis blushed; the subject of meep morp was a touchy one for them ever since she'd taken them all and then dropped them on Blue Diamond. Still... "It'd be fun to make some meep morps again, right, Peridot?" she asked hopefully.

"Hmm?" Peridot, who had been deep in thought, turned to look at her. "Oh, yes, sure," she said vaguely. Then a confident smirk appeared on her face. "I have something else in mind though."

xxx

"A computer game?" Bismuth paused in the middle of her work and looked at the smaller gem in interest. "I remember, Steven showed me one of his, a fighting one. Not like a _real_ battle, but it was fun."

"Ah, well, this one isn't a fighting one," Peridot said eagerly, sitting cross-legged on one of Bismuth's work benches and tapping furiously at her tablet screen. "This one is called 'Legends Of Light', and it's about a boy who leaves home to confront the evil Queen of Darkness, who's stolen all the light from the world," she said dramatically.

"Let me guess. The boy's Steven and the Queen's White Diamond?" Bismuth asked with a grin.

"No, no, it's all entirely fictional, none of this has any basis in reality," Peridot said hastily. Then she paused. "And actually, the Queen is Yellow Diamond."

"Right." Bismuth laughed. "OK. So what happens when he kills the Queen?"

"No, he can't _kill_ the Queen." Peridot shook her head vehemently. "Not that the boy's Steven! But Steven would be _playing_ and I know he'd prefer not to kill her if he doesn't have to. So the first time he confronts the Queen, she actually escapes, but he manages to rescue the Princess of Light, and she joins him on his quest."

Bismuth smiled to herself, she could already guess who exactly Peridot had based the Princess on. "So who else is in it? Got any room for a blacksmith with rainbow hair and a heart of gold?"

"No, no!" Peridot protested again. "I told you, it's _fictional_, I can't have any real people in it, they might get upset!"

"You made Lapis a villain, didn't you?" Bismuth guessed.

Peridot blushed and ducked her head. "There may or may not be a minor antagonist who bears a superficial resemblance to her, but it's entirely coincidental."

"Sure." Bismuth smiled, shook her head and turned her attention back to her work. "I'd better get on with this before it cools too much," she muttered mostly to herself and started hammering at the sheet of metal again.

Behind her, Peridot stared thoughtfully down at her screen, Bismuth's question echoing in her mind. _What happens when he kills the Queen?_

You couldn't kill the Queen. It was impossible. She hadn't coded the game that way.

But... she _could._ She could put in a secret ending, one that could only be reached by killing the Queen. Of course, Steven would never see it because he'd never kill the Queen if there was another option available. But... _she'd_ know it was there.

And that meant she could write whatever story she liked.

xxx

"Happy Unbirthday," Connie said a few days later, handing over a wrapped gift. "Sorry I couldn't be here for your actual birthday, my parents have been really big on family time since I got back from space again."

"It's fine," Steven said cheerfully. "There wasn't a party or anything, it was just me and Dad and the gems."

"Including your new aunts?" Connie teased.

"Oof, no!" Steven shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they don't want to like, destroy the Earth and kill us all any more, but I still feel a lot more comfortable with them being on the other side of the universe. Ah, the Dogcopter box set!" he exclaimed, tossing the wrapping paper aside. "I love it, thanks!"

"You're welcome. I saw it on your wish list. So." Connie made herself comfortable on the sofa. "So what else did you get?"

"Well, Dad went kinda wild," he said with a grin. "First time ever he's had money to spare, so he brought me a laptop and a new games console with a bunch of games, plus a whole bunch of books. I think the only reason he didn't buy literally everything on my wishlist is 'cause he'd have nothing left to buy next year."

Connie laughed at that. "What about the gems? Did he leave anything for them to buy?" she teased.

"Yeah, Pearl got me some new shoes and Garnet got me some pants that are three sizes too big. She says I'll fit into them soon, so that's exciting and terrifying," he listed. "Hopefully it'll go better than the last few times I grew up. Amethyst got me a bunch of Cookie Cats from Japan, but they're green inside and I'm slightly worried they're wasabi flavored." He paused. "Wanna try one?"

"Sure."

He raised his eyebrows but didn't question her any further. "OK. Oh, Bismuth made me a shield. She said she wanted to make me something in case I wasn't ever able to summon one of my own for some reason, but a sword didn't really seem my style, so she just made me another shield. It's pretty cool actually, very Captain America. Lapis made me a crown out of leaves, which was weird but nice, and Peridot made me a computer game."

"A computer game?" Connie looked at him with interest. "What's it like, is it any good?"

"It's actually not bad," he admitted. "It's not very long, I don't think she had much time to do it, so the music's all stolen and the characters are all from online doll makers." He smiled slightly. "And they're all blatantly us, even though she assured me several times it was entirely fictional."

"That's so cool!" Connie exclaimed. "Am I in it? Can I play it?"

"Sure, there's a knight called 'Bonnie' I'm pretty sure is supposed to be you," he said, climbing the stairs to the loft. "Here."

He handed her a controller and switched on the TV and Connie waited for the game to start. "No character selection?" she joked once the title screen had faded away, leaving her in control of a sprite that was very obviously Steven. "I was kind of hoping I could play as me."

"Ooh, maybe she'll make you your own game for _your_ birthday!" he gasped.

"I'd like that," Connie admitted. Then she lapsed into silence as she began to play. It wasn't a particularly complicated game, just a combination of match-three puzzles and turn based combat, but there was a little story involved too. "Ah, boss time!" she exclaimed ten minutes later when the time finally came to fight the Queen. "So I just need to kill her?"

"Oh no, you don't kill her," Steven quickly corrected. "You need her power later on to heal the land."

Connie paused for a moment before continuing thoughtfully. The previous battles against 'dark monsters' (that were very blatantly recolored Pokemon) had been simple turn-based battles that ended with them turning into Chaos Emeralds. But with this battle, she was being offered more combat options, and she had a sneaking suspicion that actually using them might change the course of the game entirely.

Or it'd just be game over. There was no way to tell unless she actually tried it.

"So what happens when you beat her?" she asked, dodging a bolt of electricity and retaliating with a flurry of spikes.

"She runs away and leaves behind the Princess, who's been imprisoned in the castle all her life. She joins you and leads you to the Chasm Of Darkness, then the Queen shows up again and you have to fight her again, but now you have the Princess on your side, she can't escape, and then you have to talk to her until she agrees to heal the land," he explained enthusiastically.

"Hmm." Connie nodded. "OK. I'm going to kill the Queen."

"What!?" Steven sat bolt upright and stared at her in dismay. "Why!? You can't!"

"Ah, but that's the thing," Connie said cheerfully, waving a hand towards the screen where the Queen was writhing in pain. "It looks like I can. And I wanna see what happens."

"You think she put in an alternate ending?" he asked, immediately curious.

"Either that, or her face is about to pop up onscreen and tell me off for doing it." But somehow she didn't think that would happen. Peridot didn't strike her as the kind of person to put something in a game if there wasn't any point to it.

And sure enough, once the Queen exploded into dark, glittering fragments of crystal, the game continued. Connie guided her team through the rest of the castle, to the upper tower where the Princess was being held.

"Oh, this is different," Steven commented as the dialogue scrolled across the screen.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, look, she's scared of you." He pointed at the screen. "She was just kinda grouchy when I freed her."

"She really did code in a new story then." Connie was impressed. "Now I _really_ want her to make a game for my birthday!"

"Don't get too excited yet," Steven warned. "She might've put in like, a Sans battle."

"I defeated Sans though," she said smugly. Then she deflated slightly. "It took me a week though. I don't think my parents will let me stay that long."

The game continued. Connie was mildly disappointed to note that her character's newfound bloodlust hadn't unlocked an option to kill the monsters that plagued her journey; whatever this new storyline was, it didn't look like it was going to turn into Undertale's genocide run. Still, once she found Bismuss's Business, she upgraded her weaponry and armor, just in case.

Finally the Princess led the boy to the Chasm Of Darkness. "To heal the land, you must close the Chasm," she monologued. "But only the Queen had the power to do that."

"So what does that mean?" Steven asked. "Did we lose? Is that it?"

"Shh, no, there's more." Connie tapped a button and more dialogue scrolled across the screen.

"However, upon her passing, the power was passed on to the next in line." The Princess smiled and opened her arms. "Me."

"So... we won?" Steven checked.

"Shh!" Connie said crossly. "It's not finished."

"But I am unable to control the power of the Dark. To unlock the power and save the world..." The Princess turned away and looked sadly into the Chasm. "I must die."

"No!" Steven wailed.

"Oh my gosh! Twist ending!" Connie said with glee. "That's so mean, and it makes no sense, but I love it!" She twitched the joystick to highlight the box that said 'Kill the Princess,' but then to her immense surprise, Steven lunged forward and snatched it out of her hands. "Hey! Steven!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you kill her," he apologized, flicking over to the option that ominously stated 'Destroy the World'. "It was different when it was the Queen, she was evil, but the Princess is _Peridot._"

"Steven, it's just a game," Connie said in exasperation.

"Which means the world won't really be destroyed if I spare her," he pointed out, and before Connie could say anything further, he hit the button.

Immediately the game switched to a cut scene. "Wow, thanks for sparing me," the Princess said with a small smile. "But I can't allow you to destroy the world." She turned back to the boy and Connie and Steven's mouth's fell open in unison as she leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. "Don't be sad. I'm happy I got to see it first." And then she spun back around, ran forward and dove into the Chasm. There was a flash of light, and the words 'THE END' appeared in the middle of the screen in a rather mood-killing Comic Sans font.

"Wow," Connie said finally. She looked sideways at Steven, who appeared to be frozen. "Can I play it again and see what happens if you kill her? I'm joking!" she hastily assured him as he turned to face her with wide, stunned eyes. "I mean, I won't lie, I do wanna know what _that_ ending's like, but uh, I think maybe you need to go and talk to her."

"It-it's just a game," he stammered weakly.

"And as you so accurately pointed out a minute ago, the Princess is Peridot." Connie reached over and took the controller back. "Go on, go and find her. I'm gonna kill the Queen again."

Steven blinked and looked at her in surprise, but when the title screen popped up again and Connie hit 'Start' to begin a new game, he stood up and made his way down the stairs and over to the warp pad. Peridot had flatly refused to move back into the barn once it'd been rebuilt, but she still spent a lot of time there or at Bismuth's forge – when she wasn't in the bathroom. He vaguely remembered her saying something about metal training that morning, so he decided to try the forge first.

As soon as he arrived, he knew he was in the right place, mostly because Peridot was standing directly in front of him, floating a dozen small daggers around her head. "Ah! Steven!" she exclaimed, waving wildly so that a few of the daggers lurched ominously towards him. "Watch this! Bismuth!"

"Incoming!" Bismuth shouted, and threw another dagger towards them.

Steven flinched instinctively, but Peridot confidently held out a hand and the dagger froze an inch away from her. "Ha! Witness my mastery over metal!" she gloated loudly. "And now you're here, you can help! Here, take three and throw them at me at the same time as Bismuth," she ordered.

"Uh, is that safe?" he asked, taking a quick step backwards as three daggers came dangerously close to his head.

"Of course not," Bismuth laughed. "That's the point!"

"No, _this _is the point," Peridot joked, sending three daggers back towards her. "Are you ready?"

"Uh, actually, I just wanted to talk to you." He plucked the daggers out of the air and looked around for somewhere to put them.

"Over here," Bismuth called. "But don't throw 'em! I don't have metal powers!"

"OK, so um..." He took a deep breath. "I killed the Queen."

"The one in the game?" Bismuth asked over the sound of all the daggers falling to the floor. "I thought you said you couldn't kill the Queen?"

"...I changed it," Peridot mumbled.

Bismuth looked at them and narrowed her eyes, sensing the sudden change in atmosphere at once. "Ohhhhhkay. Y'know, I think I'm gonna go head inside, I have some 'bismuth' to attend to."

Peridot waited until she was sure the other gem was out of earshot before she raised her eyes to meet Steven's. "You weren't supposed to kill the Queen," she said sternly. "You need her power to heal the land."

"Well if I'm entirely honest, it was Connie, not me," he said sheepishly.

"Oh." Peridot relaxed ever so slightly. "I assume she killed the Princess as well then?" she asked hopefully.

"...She was going to," he said slowly. "But I wouldn't let her, 'cause the Princess was you."

Peridot groaned and dropped her head in her hands, mortified. "You weren't supposed to do that! Well, actually you were," she immediately corrected him. "The Princess needs to give up her power voluntarily, killing her unlocks the bad ending- but that's not the point, you weren't supposed to kill the Queen in the first place!"

"Did you mean it?" he asked, ignoring everything else she'd just said.

"What? Yes!" She threw up her hands in exasperation. "I just explained- you weren't supposed to kill anyone!"

"No, I mean..." He began to blush. "The bit where you um, kissed me."

"Oh. That." Peridot blushed as well. "Well er, as I clarified when I gave you the game, the um, the characters are all fictional-"

"I know you just said that so Lapis wouldn't get mad about River Bob abandoning the team just before the final battle," Steven interrupted. "You called the boy 'Steve' and the Princess 'Perry', it wasn't exactly subtle."

Peridot groaned and hid her face again. "You weren't supposed to see that," she mumbled.

"Then... why did you put it in?" he asked.

She peeked at him from between her fingers and then slowly lowered her hands again "I suppose..." she said slowly, "part of me hoped you would." She took a deep breath and looked straight at him. "And... yes. I meant it."

"Oh." Steven looked disappointed. "To be honest, that's kind of spoiled the present for me a little."

Peridot's heart broke. She bit her lip and blinked away sudden tears that had gathered in the corner of her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, you're right, it was selfish- I shouldn't have- I can patch it out," she offered desperately.

"No! No, I mean..." He stepped forward and took her hands in his. "I would've totally preferred the real thing."

"What? Oh!" Her eyes widened as understanding dawned and a wide smile spread across her face. "In that case then..." She raised herself up on tiptoe and pressed her lips against his. "Happy Birthday, Steven."


	3. GOOD AS NEW (M)

Prompt for week three - Sick, Starry Night, Getting to Know You

GOOD AS NEW (M)

Steven settled down on the sand and gazed up at the stars shining overhead. "OK, so that one's Orion's Belt, right?" he murmured. "And that... that's the Plough, right?"

He didn't really expect Peridot to answer. She'd been in her gem for three days now, the result of a nasty gem retrieval accident. But just as he finished speaking, her gem glowed and floated into the air. He scrambled upright and watched with delight as her previous forms flickered in the air before the basic shape of her body appeared for a split second, immediately followed by her new form. She hung in the air, eyes closed, then floated down to the ground and opened her eyes. At once, a smile of pure joy appeared on her face. "Steven!"

"Peridot!" He opened his arms and she obligingly flung herself into them so that he could twirl her around and cover her face in kisses. "I missed you so much!"

Peridot drew back in concern. "How long have I been reforming?" she asked warily.

"Too long," he said gloomily. "Three whole days."

"Hah!" She laughed and relaxed again. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to say three weeks at least!"

"It _felt_ like weeks," he pouted, reluctantly placing her back on the ground.

She grinned and leaned up on tiptoe to give him another kiss before adopting a more serious pose. "So what was the outcome of the mission?" she asked in a businesslike tone. "I assume we won, of course?"

"Of course," he scoffed, as if there'd never been any doubt. "After you saved Garnet, Pearl managed to poof the gem. We took her to Mom's fountain and cured her, gave her 'the talk' and now she's hanging out in the Beta Kindergarten with some of the gems there, getting a crash course in, y'know, everything that's happened in the last five thousand years."

"I see." She nodded. "Speaking of which, did I happen miss anything else of importance while I was in my gem? Such as what has motivated you to come and sit out here on the beach at..." She paused and looked up the stars and made a few, quick mental calculations. "Four-oh-seven in the morning?"

"Oh, it was Vidalia's birthday yesterday and Amethyst went over hers," Steven explained. "I don't know _what_ she did exactly, but she's in the bathroom now, being very violently ill." He pulled a face. "She was so loud, I could hear her up in my room, so I gave up trying to sleep and decided to come out here for a bit."

Satisfied with explanation, Peridot moved onto the next question, one of the utmost importance. "And what do you think of my new look?" she asked, doing a little twirl for him.

"Very cu-ool," he quickly corrected himself. "Cool. Very cool." She narrowed her eyes at him and he quickly moved on. "Have you done something to your hair?" Actually, he realized, although she'd kept the triangular shape, it did seem a bit smaller.

"You noticed?" She smiled and patted the side of her hair. "Yes, I decided to redistribute some of the mass elsewhere."

"Oh?" he asked, immediately intrigued. "Where?"

A catlike smirk appeared on her face. "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

Steven narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a few moments, trying to figure out where she'd made changes. Was she a little taller now? And were her hips a little wider now, or had she just nipped in her waist a little-

"Ahem." She put her hands on her hips and pouted. "That was _supposed_ to be an invitation."

"Oh!" He laughed and pulled her into his embrace. "Sorry. OK! Let's start here." He reached down and brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. "So the hair's definitely smaller," he said solemnly. "But you still fit perfectly under my chin," he continued, hugging her closer and resting his chin lightly on the top of her hair to prove his point. "So... I think you've made yourself a little taller, am I right?"

"Almost." She pulled back, grinned and pointed her leg out at an angle to show off the new ankle boots she was wearing, a change from her old stockings. "These have added approximately an inch to my height."

Steven looked curiously at her. He wasn't entirely sure of the rules regarding reformation; his mother, of course, had made quite a dramatic change in her body shape when she'd been poofed as Pink Diamond and reformed as Rose Quartz, but then, perhaps that was just because she was a Diamond. Amethyst had gone through a number of bizarre changes in her form a few years ago which Garnet had said were unsustainable, but the Slinker had poofed her before he'd got a chance to see what that meant. "Do clothes count as part of your body?" he asked, taking another look at her cropped shirt, shorts and leggings.

"Nope," she said happily. "They're a separate projection."

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if that meant she could make herself fake limb enhancers, but he stopped himself. A question like that would only spoil the mood. Instead, he tilted her chin up and studied her face. "Hmm... well, this all looks like the same cute face I know and love," he teased, and kissed her pouty lips. "Mmm, yes, those are still the same, no changes there," he murmured. "And I'm pretty sure there's no changes here," he continued, dropping kisses on her jaw, down her neck and across her shoulder, making her giggle.

"You're going to have to look a little harder than that," she told him, and pushed him back onto a convenient boulder so that she could straddle his lap.

Knocked slightly off balance, Steven let out a small squeak and grabbed hold of her butt to steady her. Then he tilted his head and stared at her. "Ah. Now _this_ feels different," he said seriously, cupping her cheeks and pulling her a little closer. "You've made it a bit bigger, am I right?"

"Hmmm... maybe." She grinned and shamelessly ground her hips against his groin. "Perhaps it's just the shorts though. I suggest you carry out further examination."

"Ah, I will. Eventually." He winked at her. "Gotta do it scientifically though, one step at a time, right?"

Peridot wrinkled her nose. "Wrong- eep!" she squealed as Steven's hands slid up her sides, beneath her shirt to cup her breasts.

"Oooh." Steven raised his eyebrows. "Now these are _definitely_ bigger." He gave her a look of mock concern. "You realize this means none of your bras will fit any more, right?"

"Pah!" she snorted. "Do I look like I care?"

"Hmm." He pushed up her shirt and looked thoughtfully at her naked chest. "Well, you didn't bother making one part of your new outfit, so I guess not." Then he immediately found himself wondering if she'd bothered with any underwear at all.

"Ahem." She coughed pointedly as his eyes glazed over. "We are conducting a very serious scientific investigation here, pay attention!"

"Ah, sorry." He blushed and grinned sheepishly. "I just had a, um, what's the word, hypno- hippo- theory."

"Hypothesis," she corrected. "And would you like to share your hypothesis with the rest of the class?"

"Hmm." He lowered his head and ran his tongue around one of her nipples, making her squirm. "I was thinking if your butt really _is_ bigger..." He paused and moved onto the other nipple before continuing. "Your panties aren't going to fit either. And I don't believe you care about that either."

He began suckling on her nipples in earnest and so it was several seconds before Peridot remembered how to talk. "Ah- that's- that's an interesting hy-hypothesis," she gasped, bucking her hips against him again. "W-would you like to confirm your- ah! Theory?"

"What do you think?" he teased before resuming his amorous attentions towards her breasts.

Peridot groaned and tried to concentrate. "Hnn... well, my- ah! M-my hypothesis is..." She wriggled in his lap, feeling his erection pressed up against her. "You would very much like to."

"Your hypothesis is correct," he admitted cheerfully, and then he stood up, sweeping her into his arms. "But not right here."

He carried her a short way back up the beach until they were in the shadow of the house, safe from any prying eyes, although neither of them really believed there'd be many of those around at four in the morning. Then again, in Beach City, it didn't hurt to be cautious.

"Now then. Where were we?" he asked as he carefully put her down on the sand. "Oh yes," he continued before she could reply. "My hypothesis." And with that, he kissed her belly and fumbled with the button on her shorts until it popped undone. She raised her hips so he could slide them down her legs, kicking off her boots to make it a little easier, and then he tossed them aside where they vanished in a shimmer of light.

"Hmm." He ran a finger down the front of her dark green leggings and cupped her pussy. "Now, I still can't be sure if you're not wearing any panties," he mused, curling his fingers slightly so they brushed against the damp spot forming there. "You could just be _really_ wet. This requires further examination."

"Then cease your blathering and examine!" Peridot groaned, trying to resist the urge to push against his fingers.

Steven needed no further invitation. He grabbed the waistband of her leggings and slowly tugged them down, revealing nothing but lime-green flesh. He grinned and gently kissed her mons. "Looks like my hypothesis was correct," he murmured.

"C-congratulations," she panted as his tongue pressed against her pussy. "Y-you win a prize."

He paused and raised his head to look at her. "Ooh, is it a stuffed toy?"

"Something _much_ better," she assured him. She pulled him up for a kiss, and then, without warning, rolled them both over and pushed him onto his back. "I still have one other minor alteration I think you'll enjoy _very_ much?"

Steven opened his mouth to make another pithy quip, but then her hands slipped beneath the waistband of his pants and grasped his cock firmly. "A-ah, Peri," he groaned, bucking into her hands. "I missed you so much!"

"I hope my return was worth the wait," she whispered. Her shirt was still pushed up around her collar, and so she phased it off so she was entirely naked, and then tugged his pants and underpants down before straddling him again. Then she reached down, grabbed his cock and and carefully guided him into her eager pussy.

Steven's mouth dropped open. Had she-? No! Surely not! But then she raised her hips and slammed back against him, and the sensation overwhelmed him. He grabbed her waist and thrust wildly into her a few more times, then collapsed back against the sand, panting loudly.

"Steven?" Peridot blinked in surprise and cautiously poked his chest. "What-?"

"Oh jeez..." He groaned, mortified, and flung an arm over his eyes. "Peridot, I'm so sorry!"

"Did you-?" She stopped. She already knew the answer, she could feel him softening inside her already. Then all of a sudden she saw the funny side. "Heh. Nyeheh! You _really_ must have missed me!" she laughed, climbing off him and laying down next to him in the sand.

"Doooooon't," he whined, curling up in shame. "It's not funny! And it's your fault anyway!"

"Nyehehe," she laughed again. "I think that was even quicker than the first time we were together!"

Steven peeped at her from between his fingers and uncurled slightly. "In my defense, on that occasion, you gave me a Happy 18th Birthday blowjob first," he scolded her. "And you didn't surprise me with a _ribbed vagina!_"

xxx

A/N: Sorry this one's technically during week 4, I've had a very busy week. But this week should be quieter, so you should get week 4's post this week too.


	4. THE PROMISE (K)

Prompt for week four - Proposal

THE PROMISE (K)

It had been a beautiful ceremony. Now it was time for the party. The chairs had been put aside to make way for a dance floor, and all around, people were chatting and laughing and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. Amethyst was making sure the buffet didn't go to waste. Pearl was teaching Bismuth how to do the Macarena. Garnet was dancing a slow dance with herself, oblivious to the actual tempo of the music. Connie was now really far too old to stand on her dad's shoes while he danced, but they were doing it anyway while Dr Maheswaran took photos.

Peridot was watching all these events with a mixture of curiosity and confusion when Steven flung himself into the chair next to her. "Hi. You OK there? Having fun?" he asked.

"Hmm?" She turned away from the fascinating sight of ex-Mayor Dewey trying to do the Macarena too; he'd consumed almost an entire bottle of wine by this point and was in real danger of accidentally punching himself in the face. "Oh, yes," she assured him. "I just wished to observe proceedings for a period."

"Well, when you're done observing, could I have the next dance?" he asked hopefully.

Peridot looked warily at Bill Dewey's flailing arms. "I don't know... it looks dangerous."

"Huh?" He looked over just in time to see the ex-Mayor swat Barb in the back of the head, sending her crashing to the ground. "Ah. Well, maybe we'll wait for a slow song. They're easy," he promised. "You just sway."

And so a few minutes later, once the casualties had been cleared out of the way, Steven led her out onto the dance floor. "OK, so you just put your arms around me," he instructed.

Still looking wary, Peridot did as she was told and embraced him stiffly. She let out a small squeak of surprise when he put his arms around her waist too and started to sway her in time to the music, but after a few moments, she relaxed against him. "This is nice," she admitted.

"Yeah." He looked down at her and smiled softly to himself when she absently leaned her head against his chest. "You look really pretty in that dress," he whispered.

"Of course I do," she said, smiling smugly. "Your new attire enhances your physical attributes as well."

He blinked and tilted his head as he tried to figure out what she meant. "Did you just say I look good too?" he checked.

She laughed and nodded. "You look good too," she clarified, and leaned up slightly to give him a small kiss. Behind him, she spotted Garnet grin and give her a thumbs up and she blushed and looked away to where Buck was persuading his father to drink a pint of water. "What happens now?" she suddenly asked.

"We party for the rest of the night," Steven said promptly. "Maybe dance some more-"

"No, I mean, what happens with Garnet?" she interrupted. "How does this 'wedding' alter her relationship going forward?"

"Uh..." Steven stopped swaying as he tried to think. "I guess... it kinda doesn't," he said slowly.

Peridot frowned in confusion. "Then what was the purpose of this ceremony?"

He relaxed again. He knew the answer to that one. "To reaffirm Ruby and Sapphire's love for one another."

"But couldn't they have just... said that?" Peridot pressed. "I still don't understand what this 'wedding' thing actually _achieves._ Is it simply a love celebration party?"

"Well... I guess. Kind of," he admitted. "The wedding ceremony is a chance for the happy couple to celebrate their love with family and friends," he explained, gesturing towards the other guests.

Peridot looked towards all the smiling, laughing people he was indication and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Could _we_ have a wedding?"

"What? No!" He laughed and then grabbed at her as she pulled away, hurt. "Wait, Peri, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. It's just, a wedding is the beginning of a marriage. _That's_ the important bit."

"I've heard that term before, but I don't really understand what it means," Peridot said with a sigh.

"Marriage is..." he hesitated. He wasn't _entirely_ sure what the purpose of marriage was either, if he was honest. Connie's parents were really the only married people he knew. "It makes it more official," he said lamely. "And I think there's like, legal benefits? Like um, tax breaks and childcare stuff?"

"But that doesn't help Garnet," Peridot pointed out.

"No, true. But there's more to it," he insisted. "Marriage is... is like a promise, a promise between two people that they'll work together to keep their relationship happy and healthy, no matter what happens to them."

"But I want to do that!" she exclaimed. "So let's have a marriage wedding!"

"No!" he said again. "We can't, we're not allowed!"

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"We're too young," he said simply. "It's a thing for grown-ups."

"But why?" she asked again.

"'Cause of the honeymoon," Connie said, suddenly popping up behind Steven, making him jump violently. "Hi. Having fun?"

"What's a 'honeymoon'?" Peridot asked, ignoring her question. "Steven, why have you gone all red and sweaty?"

"It's not because of the honeymoon!" Steven protested, trying to fan the furious blush from his face. "It's because uh, legal um, things."

"Marriage is a legally binding, long-term contract," Connie explained, finally taking pity on him. "We're too young to consent to that. Also," she pointedly added, "neither of you should be getting married until you actually understand what that means." She stepped back and clapped them both on the back. "I'm going to go grab some nibbly bits before Amethyst eats the lot. No child marriages while I'm gone," she ordered sternly.

"Yes, Connie," they said meekly in unison.

They waited until she was out of earshot and then Peridot sighed and slumped against his chest again. "I suppose that adequately answers my question," she conceded.

"Yeah," Steven muttered and silently prayed she wouldn't ask about honeymoons again. "Although..." he said slowly, "maybe we could do something anyway..."

"Oh?" She looked intrigued. "Like what?"

"Well, we don't _have_ to get married, lots of people don't," he said with rising enthusiasm. "I mean, my mom and dad never did. Then again, maybe she just didn't feel right doing it when she was lying to him about her whole identity-"

"Steven..." Peridot quietly interrupted.

"Right. Sorry," he said sheepishly. "But yeah, we don't have to get married, not right now, but we can still make our relationship official." He stepped back and knelt down in front of her. "Peridot, will you be my girlfriend?"

She smiled happily and nodded. "Yes. Yes, I will-"

"Hey!" Connie ran over, leaving a trail of chips in her haste. "You two didn't just get engaged, did you?" she asked in concern. "I was joking about the whole child wedding thing, I didn't think you two were really gonna do it!"

Steven laughed and stood up and brushed the sand off his knees. "Don't worry," he assured her. "We're not engaged." He smiled and took Peridot's hands in his. "We just made a promise."


	5. CRASH AND BURN (T)

Prompt for week four - Protection, Wrong Choices

CRASH AND BURN (T)

"What on Earth is that horrible noise?" Amethyst shouted over the incessant wailing coming from Peridot's tablet.

"It's not on Earth," Peridot corrected, picking up the tablet and swiping at the screen to stop the alarm. "The satellite I placed in orbit last year," she elaborated as the other gem stared blankly at her. "It's detected an object heading towards this planet."

"It's spotted a UFO?" Steven asked in delight.

"No! Well... yes," she grudgingly admitted. "Technically. Until I figure out what it is."

"Could it be the Diamonds?" Garnet asked, pouring a figurative bucket of cold water on the conversation.

"Uh... let me check." Peridot stabbed at the tablet a few times as the rest of the Crystal Gems gathered around her. "Well," she began a few moments later, "I have some good news and some bad news."

"Start with the good news," Garnet instructed.

"It's not the Diamonds."

The elder Crystal Gems smiled and visibly relaxed, but Steven found he was almost disappointed. He'd been waiting for the Diamonds to come looking for him for nearly two years now, ever since he'd escaped from Homeworld, and by this point, he just wanted to get the matter over and done with.

Plus, if it wasn't the Diamonds, what was the _bad_ news?

"It's extremely large and on a direct collision course with one of your major cities," she said when he asked the question aloud.

"What is this object, anyway?" Amethyst asked. "An asteroid?"

"Or perhaps it's a weapon of some kind," Pearl said ominously. "The Diamonds may not want to risk getting too close to Earth themselves, but they could've sent something else instead."

"It appears to be a ship of some sort," Peridot said, tapping at her screen some more. "Abandoned. They're not responding to any communication."

"Well if it was a Diamond weapon, they wouldn't, would they?" Amethyst pointed out.

"I don't believe it's a Diamond weapon," Peridot said firmly. "The ship doesn't resemble any known Homeworld ships-"

"That _you_ know of," Amethyst muttered.

"How long do we have until it reaches Earth?" Garnet quickly cut in before an argument could break out.

"Erm..." Peridot made some quick calculations. "About forty-five minutes. An hour at most."

Garnet nodded and stood up straighter. "That doesn't give us much time. We need to evacuate Beach City and get Rose's cannons-"

"Beach City?" Peridot shook her head. "It's not going to hit Beach City."

Amethyst snorted and threw herself onto the sofa. "Then why do we care?"

"Not..." Pearl looked nonplussed. "But it's _always_ Beach City!"

"Not this time. Which is another reason why I don't believe it's the Diamonds," Peridot said, a little smugly. "It's going to hit Angel City instead."

Garnet swore. "This makes things a lot more difficult." She paced back and forth for a moment and then stopped. "But we have to do our best. Pearl, get Roses cannons-"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Peridot warned. "The ship may be shielded. And if it's not, destroying it over such a densely populated area could cause a lot of collateral damage."

"She's right," Steven said, looking worried. "The cannons didn't do any damage to Peridot's ship, remember?"

"I have an idea though," Peridot quickly added as Garnet ground her teeth in frustration. "If I can get onto that ship, I may be able to turn off any protective field, or even divert its course."

"Lion!" Steven blurted at once. "He was sitting in a cardboard box under the house a few minutes ago!"

"See if he's still there," Garnet ordered at once. "Then take Peridot and Pearl to the ship. And be careful, it may not be abandoned after all. Amethyst, you're with me, we'll go and get Bismuth and warp as close as we can to the city."

"Aye aye, boss," Amethyst said, giving her a sloppy salute. "You guys take care, I'll see you later."

Steven, Peridot and Pearl watched them depart, and then Steven dashed towards the freezer. "Just gonna get him a treat," he explained rapidly. "I may need to lure him in."

He sprinted out of the house and reappeared a few moments later on Lion's back. "All right, climb aboard and hang on tight," he instructed. He waited until they'd climbed up behind him, and then dangled an ice cream over Lion's head. "OK, boy, there's a crashing spaceship heading for Earth," he said softly. "Do you think you can get us on board?"

Lion growled and snapped at the ice cream, swallowing it in a single gulp. Then he roared loudly and jumped into the portal. A nauseating blur of color sped past them, and then they materialized on what was presumably the flight deck. A very clearly damaged flight deck.

Peridot slid off of Lion's back and ran over to the control panel. "The controls are fused," she said after a cursory examination. "That must be why they abandoned the ship, they couldn't fix it."

"Do you think _we_ can fix it?" Pearl asked cautiously.

Peridot picked up a sparking wire and looked thoughtfully at it. "We can try."

Pearl immediately dove beneath the control panel and started pulling out wires, but Peridot paused and then crossed the deck to stand beside Steven, who was gazing out of the windshield. "Steven?" she said quietly, placing a hand on his arm. "Is everything all right?"

"Hmm?" He blinked and glanced at her. "Oh! Yes, I just..." He turned back to the window. "It's been a while. I'd forgotten how beautiful the Earth looks from up here."

Peridot looked out of the window as well and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I didn't really pay it much heed when I first arrived," she quietly admitted. "There didn't seem much point anyway, not when it was going to be destroyed. But now..." She stared out at the blue planet hanging in the inky-black void of space. "It really is beautiful. No wonder your mother wanted to save it."

They stood silently, hand-in-hand for a few moments longer, and then Steven's eyes widened as he belatedly realized something. "It's uh, it's getting closer."

"Oh! The controls!"

"Yes, I wondered when you were going to help me with that," Pearl said mildly, handing her a pair of wire cutters.

For the next fifteen minutes, they worked swiftly, tracing wires back to their source, stripping them down and making new connections. Steven, who knew better than to interrupt, moved slowly around the room, picking up random bits and pieces. A small, hexagonal, metallic card. A little bottle of something orange that glowed. Something that looked like a miniature bicycle pump. He wondered what had happened on this ship.

"Right!" Pearl finally announced, straightening up. "Peridot, pull that lever and I'll press these buttons."

"Did you fix it already?" Steven exclaimed with delight. "You can steer it away from the Earth now?"

"Not quite," Peridot admitted as she pull the lever as instructed. Pearl pressed several buttons in front of her, and there was a loud _thump_ and something shimmered in front of the window. "But we've managed to turn off the shields. So if we can't divert it, we can destroy it."

"You said that was a bad idea though," Steven remembered.

"Yes, it is something we'd prefer to avoid," Pearl agreed. "Which is why we're going to try and fix the controls now."

"But why didn't you fix them first?" he asked in confusion.

"In case we couldn't," Pearl said simply. "This way, if we fail, we can at least minimize the damage."

Behind her, Peridot pulled a face; personally she was completely confident they could fix the controls, all they had achieved in switching off the shields was wasting valuable time. Speaking of which... "By my calculations, we'll enter Earth's atmosphere in twenty-five minutes. We should try to get off of the ship by that point. Especially as we have no shields now," she added dryly.

The two gems dove back beneath the control panel and went back to work. Steven watched the Earth grow larger until it filled the window before him. "Uh, guys?" he said nervously. "We're getting kinda close here."

"Nearly done," Pearl assured him, dashing past him with her arms full of cables. "I think... you know, we might actually do it!"

"I told you so," Peridot said smugly. "It's really not so badly damaged after all. I wonder why the crew didn't try to repair it?" she mused aloud. Then she shook her head and turned her attention back to the task at hand. "Done!" she announced. "Pearl?"

"Yes!" the other gem said breathlessly. "I just need to..."

She flicked a switch and Steven jumped as the lights suddenly flickered and brightened. A console next to him blinked and data began to scroll across the screen. "You did it!" he shrieked with delight, and unable to hold himself back, he pulled Peridot to her feet and kissed her with glee.

"Really, Steven," Pearl scolded, although a small smile twitched at the corner of her lips. "We don't have time for that."

"We have a _little_ time," Peridot protested, then blushed and ducked her head as Pearl turned and narrowed her eyes at her. "The computers will take a few minutes to start up," she pointed out.

"We don't _have _a few minutes!" But there was really nothing they could do until the computers were up and running, and so she turned her back on them and stared out of the window. "How long until we enter Earth's atmosphere?"

Peridot reluctantly disentangled herself from Steven's embrace and tried to concentrate. "Er... approximately seven minutes."

Pearl bit back a rude word; she'd never sworn in front of Steven and she wasn't about to start now. "Come on, come on," she muttered, hopping impatiently from foot to foot in front of the console as data continued to scroll across it. Finally, it flickered again and turned green. "At last!" she cried, and lunged forward. Then her eyes widened in dismay. "No!"

"What is it- oh!" Peridot skidded to a halt beside her, her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Of course... that's why..."

"I'm guessing it's not good news?" Steven asked timidly.

Peridot sighed and turned to face her boyfriend. "No, it appears our celebrations were a little presumptuous," she said bitterly. "The controls are isomorphic, they only respond to the pilots," she explained. "That's why the ship was abandoned, something must have happened to them, it would've been pointless to repair the damage to the console, they wouldn't have been able to fly the ship anyway."

"We need to join the others and let them know," Pearl said urgently. "We'll have to do what we can from the ground now."

Steven nodded morosely and gave Lion a pat. "We did our best," he said, trying to sound more upbeat than he felt. "Come on."

Pearl climbed up behind him, but Peridot continued to stare at the oncoming Earth, thoughts flicking rapidly through her mind. Angel City was far more densely populated than Beach City. The ship they were standing in was more than a mile long, and an hour wasn't nearly enough time to evacuate a city full of people who weren't familiar with the Gems and thus had no reason to listen to their orders.

_We did our best._

But had they really? There was still time, after all.

She turned around and marched over to Lion. Her eye's briefly met Steven's and suddenly, he knew what she intended to do. "Peridot-"

"Go."

"No!" he cried, but it was too late. She raised her hand and gave Lion a hard slap on the rump. He jumped, almost dislodging his two passengers, and then roared and disappeared.

Peridot stared at the empty space where they'd been, and then turned her attention back to the control panel. "Four minutes," she muttered to herself. Was that enough? It had to be.

The controls could be changed. It was unlikely that only one person could fly the ship, it _had_ to be possible to give control to somebody else in case of emergency. Even during her own original flight to Earth, she'd known Jasper could fly the ship if she needed to. She just preferred to leave it to Peridot. Presumably there'd been more than one pilot for this ship too, and the crew had just been unlucky enough to lose them all during whatever crisis had damaged the flight deck. But if she could hack into the controls and find out how to change the pilot, perhaps she could program a new one. Herself.

And so she dove back under the main control panel, pulled out a few more wires and set grimly to work.

xxx

Lion skidded to a halt in the middle of a crowd of screaming people, who began screaming even louder at the sight of a large, pink lion in their midst.

"Finally!" Amethyst shouted of the sound of screams and sirens. "These people are so dumb, it's like they _want_ to die-"

"We couldn't change course," Pearl blurted out as she slid off of Lion's back. "We took down the shields, but the controls-"

"Then we use the cannons," Bismuth said at once.

"No! We can't, Peridot's still up there!" Steven cried. He grabbed Lion's mane and tugged hard, making the animal growl ominously. "Take me back! Take me back _now!_"

"What!?" Garnet looked to Pearl for confirmation.

"She stayed behind, she must have a plan of some kind, but I don't know if she can pull it off, there's simply not enough _time,_" Pearl explained rapidly, gesturing wildly towards the sky. Already, they could see a dark shape approaching.

Garnet bit her lip. "We'll wait as long as we can," she decided. "But we _must_ get these people off the streets."

Bismuth nodded and turned her hands into a loudspeaker. "You heard the lady," she roared. "Clear the area!"

"Get to the subway!" Amethyst added helpfully. "The sub- _not_ a skyscraper, dumbass, you don't want to get _closer _to it, idiot!" she shouted as a man dashed past her with a camera. She stretched out an arm and grabbed him by the collar. "We didn't spend thousands of years saving you idiots from corrupted gems for you to throw yourselves in front of a crashing spaceship for an Instagram selfie," she scolded.

Meanwhile, Garnet had pulled Steven aside and was trying to comfort him. "She's a smart gem," she said softly. "If she stayed back, it's because she has a plan, one she believes she can pull off."

"But what if she can't?" he sobbed. "She's trapped up there, we can't-"

"If the ship was abandoned, the crew must have got out somehow," Garnet gently reminded him. "Escape pods. She'll get out of there too. We'll wait as long as possible, but we _must_ save these people, Steven. We have to assume Peridot knows what she's doing, and that she also knows we'll _need_ to fire upon the ship if it comes to it." She patted his shoulder and smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, but that was OK, because he couldn't see them. "Stay here for a moment and take a few deep breaths until you're ready. We need you. _Peridot_ needs you," she added, giving a silent apology to her missing team mate for using her to emotionally manipulate him.

Still, it seemed to work, because Steven took a few shaky breaths and then stood up straighter. "Yeah." He gave her a wobbly smile. "You're right, she wouldn't still be up there if she didn't think whatever she's doing would work."

But then, said a nasty voice in the back of his mind, just because she believed it, didn't mean she was right.

xxx

She was aware that her work was getting sloppy now, but there wasn't time to keep things neat and tidy, it was enough to make it functional. The ship was starting to shake and the internal temperature was rising; they were entering Earth's upper atmosphere now and if she didn't get the damn controls working now, she never would.

With shaking fingers, she twisted the last few wires together and them immediately shot out from beneath the panel and stabbed wildly at the screen, almost switching off the artificial gravity in her haste. For a few seconds, the screen stayed stubbornly unresponsive, and then finally, _finally,_ it flickered and a new message popped up.

INPUT PILOT DATA:

"Yes," she whispered to herself. "YES! I'm brilliant!" she cackled loudly. There was a loud _bang_ and she quickly pulled herself together and slammed her palm on the face of the screen. A blue light shone and then...

An error message popped up.

NO DATA FOUND. ABORT RETRY CANCEL

"Wh-" She waved her hand in front of her face and then pressed it against the screen again. "Retry, you stupid, cloddy calculator!"

NO DATA FOUND. ABORT RETRY CANCEL.

A cold, clammy feeling crept over her. "Come on, work.." she muttered to herself as the blue light panned across her palm again, but deep down, she knew that if it hadn't worked the first two times, it wasn't likely to find her data a third- "Oh!" She smacked her hand against her forehead. "Of course! That's not-"

Without even bothering to finish her sentence, she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against the screen and let the light scan her gem. This time, the computer let out a satisfying beep.

PILOT DATA ADDED: ACCESS GRANTED

"Yes!" she squealed and did an obnoxious little dance of glee. "Nyeheheh! I am amaze- eep!" She grabbed the edge of the control panel as the ship began to shudder more violently. "Celebrate later," she told herself sternly, lurching towards the nearby controls. "After you've landed this flying scrapheap."

She just needed to adjust the ship's angle by a few degrees, she calculated. Then it would pass harmlessly over the city and she could land it in the ocean. She would have to wait until it had passed through Earth's thermosphere; any change now in the angle of approach could tear the ship apart.

The temperature continued to rise. Peridot took no notice of it, gems were generally unaffected by such temperature fluctuations.

The ship, however, was not. With the shields down, there was nothing to protect it from the intense heat, and with a sudden BANG, the entire control panel burst into flames. Peridot instinctively jumped back and raised her hands to protect her gem. Then it was several more seconds before she could bring herself to lower her hands to assess the damage.

She peeped between her fingers. Then she slowly lowered her hands and stared hopelessly at the burning wreckage and shattered screen. There was no way she could fix it in time. Her only hope now was to find an escape pod and let the gems back on Earth blow up the ship. She would just have to hope they'd managed to keep the people in the city safe. And Steven.

She bit her lip. Steven was down there now. She knew his shield could take a lot of damage, she'd seen it repel a blast from her own ship and keep his friends safe when it had then crashed, and it was the same shield that Rose Quartz had used to save her friends from the corrupting blast. But all of those attacks had been from gem threats, of _course _a shield belonging to a Diamond could stop them_._ But this was an unknown, alien craft. She couldn't be certain his shield would keep him safe. And so, for that reason, she couldn't bring herself to leave until she'd exhausted all her options.

"Oh, but you _have_ exhausted all your options, you utter clod," she laughed humorlessly. The controls were destroyed. What else could she do? She was just a peridot, a substandard Era 2 gem. She thought enviously of Lapis, who could've simply used the sea to pluck the ship out of the sky. But Lapis had stolen her home and her possessions and run away, abandoning the planet to its fate. And Peridot had been fooling herself, thinking that _she_ could protect it instead, with nothing but her weak metal powers-

Her lips parted. "Metal powers..." She turned slowly on the spot, ignoring the smoldering wreckage of the control panels and instead taking in the heavy, metal walls of the flight deck. Could she move that much metal? She didn't need to move it much, just enough to pass over the city.

She sat down, pressed her palms against the warm, metal floor and closed her eyes. She pictured the Earth below, the outline of the approaching landmass and a city full of panicking humans.

Then she pictured Steven.

xxx

"G..."

"Not yet," Garnet said firmly. She pressed her shaking hand against the surface of the gleaming pink cannon to hide the tremor. "Two more minutes. And use them to order those idiots over there to safety!"

Amethyst tore her eyes away from the enormous, crumbling spaceship now clearly visible above them, and strode towards the young couple who were also gawping up at it. "Subway! Now! How're you gonna brag about this to all your friends when you're a greasy smear on the sidewalk!?" she snarled.

"How are we going to know when she's out of there?" Bismuth asked quietly.

Garnet grimaced. "No idea," she admitted. "I'm hoping she'll find some way to call his cell phone." She nodded over at Steven, who was standing in front of the other cannons, head tilted back to look at the oncoming shop. Deep down, she knew he wasn't going to be able to use the command until he knew Peridot was safe. She hoped Peridot knew that too. Because the ship was getting awfully close now and she didn't think even Steven could make a shield big enough to stop it.

"We have to fire," Pearl murmured, wringing her hands together. "Garnet, we _have_ to, it's too close-"

"Wait!" Her eyes widened behind her shades. "Look! It's changing course!"

Sure enough, the nose of the craft was slowly beginning to rise. Amethyst ran over to join them and began bouncing impatiently on her toes. "Move, move, move, you bastard!" She shook her head and laughed shakily. "Oh damn, now I know how that lookout guy in _Titanic_ felt when they were trying to avoid the iceberg."

"Possibly not the best example to use in these circumstances," Pearl interjected. "Oh!"

The front of the ship clipped the top of a skyscraper and the gems all cringed as debris rained down upon the, now thankfully empty, street. But then it straightened out and passed overhead, much faster than they'd anticipated and making them all duck instinctively, before heading towards the coast.

"Hoooooly smokes, she did it!" Amethyst whooped and flung her arms around Steven's neck. "Your crazy girlfriend really did it!"

"I don't believe it," Pearl whispered. She laughed shakily and then sank down on the ground as Garnet and Bismuth joined hands and spun around in glee. "I don't believe-"

She stopped abruptly as the ground shook and the unmistakable sound of a distant explosion reached their ears. Steven broke out of Amethyst's grip and ran forward before stumbling to a halt as a cloud of smoke appeared on the horizon.

In their excitement, they'd failed to realize that Peridot had only stopped the ship from crashing into the city, not from crashing at all.

xxx

A/N: Surprise bonus week 4 chapter! I wanted to do all three prompts, and I had originally planned to add this onto the end of the Proposal one, but I didn't like the mood whiplash going from fuzzy wedding feels to disaster movie. It felt too much like two stories mashed together... which it really was, because I'd had the idea for this one in my head for a while as the possible beginning for a fic in which Peridot unlocks new powers. I may expand upon it in the future, and I _want_ to, it's just whether I ever get around to it. But until then, I thought it worked rather well for Protection and Wrong Choices.


	6. ALONE AT LAST (M)

Prompt for week five - Fusion, Frustration, Late Night

ALONE AT LAST (M)

The fusion's eyes snapped open and they gasped as a rush of pure exhilaration flooded through them. "We did it," they whispered. They hugged themselves with glee and bounced up and down on the spot. "We did it!"

Then they froze as a very important question occurred to them. "What's our name? No..." they corrected themselves at once. "What's _my_ name? And what do I look like?"

They ran over to a nearby rock pool and stared at their reflection, utterly enchanted. "Oh..." they breathed, kneeling down for a closer look. Four eyes looked back at them from a pale green, heart-shaped face, framed by pink and green curls. "I'm so pretty," they breathed, and then laughed. "I _know_ it's shallow! But we are! I am!"

They stared at their new reflection for a few moments longer and then sat back on their heels. "We did it," they said quietly, once again. "I was beginning to think maybe I really couldn't. I know," they quickly reassured themselves. "Logically, even if Peridot couldn't fuse with other gems, there still shouldn't have been any problem fusing with Steven, but when it didn't happen for so long..." They giggled and hugged themselves. "Who knew all it would take was the two of them trying to save Peridot's tablet from an especially large wave? Oh!"

They spun around and then relaxed when they saw the tablet in question halfway up the beach. It would've put something of a damper on their celebrations if it'd been washed out to sea while they were distracted. Still, just to be on the safe side, they bubbled it and sent it back to the house before getting back to the very important job of gloating over their successful fusion. "We should celebrate," they said decisively.

Almost at once, a series of rather obscene images popped into their head, making them blush. "You want to- oh! You're so bad! What? That one was you, not me! But you're right, it would be a fun way to learn more about ourselves-"

"I agree," Garnet said from behind them, making them jump. "This calls for a celebration."

"FUSION PARTY!" Amethyst roared, skidding to a halt beside her. "What d'ya say, P? Wanna let Opal out for a couple of hours?"

"Actually, we just..." the unnamed fusion timidly began, but before they could finish, there was a bright flash of light and Opal loomed over them.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you," she said sweetly, holding out one of her four arms for them to shake. "What's your name?"

"Uh, we- I hadn't got that far yet," they admitted. They pursed their lips thoughtfully. "I think... my name is Tourmaline. Yes!" They smiled widely. "I'm Tourmaline."

"I'm glad to meet you at last," Garnet said, and pulled them in for a hug. "Now let's see what you can do!"

xxx

Four hours later, the stars were shining, the moon was hanging low in the sky, and Tourmaline was at their wits end. Garnet and Opal had been delighted by their weapon; a spiked shield controlled by Peridot's powers, and insisted upon trying out their own weapons against them. And just as soon as they'd thought that was over, Opal had unfused and Amethyst and Pearl had begged Garnet let them introduce Sugilite and Sardonyx to them too. And then...

"I just want to be alone with you," they grumbled aloud to themselves as Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl concentrated on their fusion dance. "I'm beginning to feel like they're doing this on purpose!"

Alexandrite bent down to introduce herself and they forced themselves to be polite and smile, but when the other fusion pulled out a flail and a bow, Tourmaline decided they'd had enough. "Look, it was really great to meet you all, really, but this is Peridot's first time fusing ever, and her and Steven just want to spend some time alone being me."

Alexandrite unfused and the three elder Crystal Gems stood before them. "Of course, we understand," Garnet said kindly. "We're sorry if we overwhelmed you."

"It's just always so nice to meet a new fusion," Pearl added. "Mostly," she corrected under her breath as she belatedly remembered Malachite. "We'll leave you in peace now."

"Yeah, have fun being you," Amethyst finished with a wave before walking backwards towards the beach house. "Don't celebrate _too_ hard," she added cheekily, a comment Tourmaline pretended not to hear. Still...

"Ooh, I _hate_ when she says things like that!" they grumbled as soon as the other gems were out of earshot. "It's so off-putting!" Then she smirked and hugged herself. "I didn't say it was _totally_ off-putting, did I? Come on!" They began to walk slowly back up towards the house. "We're alone now. Let's get to know ourselves better."

The house was empty when they entered. They glanced briefly at the door and for a moment, they felt a small stab of envy. If they'd been able to give Peridot her own room in the temple, they would've had a whole new room of their own to explore now, but the only room accessible to them was Steven's room, and they didn't quite trust it to behave. Instead, they turned towards Steven's room. Bismuth had done a little remodeling when she'd rebuilt the house four years earlier, and now it was surrounded by walls to give him privacy. Privacy he and Peridot had taken advantage of several times now, but never like this.

The first thing they did was lock the door. The second thing they did was stand in front of the full length mirror in the corner of the room to get a clearer look at themselves. "Hmm. We look good," they said, placing their hands on their hips and turning slowly to admire themselves. "Ooh, I'm quite tall, aren't I? We are _definitely _riding the roller coaster next time. But for now, let's move on."

They leaned in closer to their reflection. "Firm, full breasts, nice, pert buttocks... that's from you, of course. No, you! OK, one cheek each. The left is definitely all Steven though," they insisted, giving said butt cheek a firm smack. "The outfit though." They frowned, taking in the slightly odd mashup of Steven's salmon pink shirt and jeans over Peridot's dark green tunic and leggings. "I don't like it." They smiled sweetly at themselves. "We'll just have to get rid of it."

They could've stripped down in seconds, but instead, they made a show of it. Steven's t-shirt slowly came off first and was tossed in a corner where it was eventually joined by Peridot's tunic and Steven's jeans (but not the leggings, they were part of Peridot's default outfit and vanished as soon as Tourmaline threw them aside), leaving them clad only in a pair of plaid boxers. "Oh, these _really _won't do," they fretted. "We'd look _so_ much nicer in a pretty pair of panties. But Peridot's aren't going to fit me now. We'll have to make sure she's wearing some next time we do this," they mused. "But until then... off they go!"

The boxers went sailing across the room too and Tourmaline gazed at their naked body in delight. "Yes, this will do just nicely. So!" They flung themselves backwards onto the bed. "Where shall we start?" they asked themselves, pressing their thighs together in happy anticipation. Despite Steven's contribution, their body structure seemed to be mostly female. Peridot had got very good recently at figuring out what worked for her, and with that knowledge, Tourmaline was able to make a pretty educated guess as to what they might enjoy too.

"I like these," they murmured, cupping their breasts and pushing them together before giving their nipples a sharp pinch. "Ooh! That hurt!" Then they blushed, unable to lie to themselves. "Yes, all right, I liked it. Shut up and give me something to focus upon."

Immediately, their component parts both fondly recalled the last time they'd been together in this room and Tourmaline closed their eyes and mentally watched the event through both points of view. They squeezed their breasts again as they remembered the feel of Steven's mouth on Peridot's. Their hands slid down their torso and fingers traced the facets of their Rose Quartz gem as they remembered Peridot's touch on Steven's body. And then their hands slid down lower still, tracing around the lips of their pussy, remembering how delightful Peridot's looked from Steven's point of view, lime green lips turning darker towards the edges, slick with a mixture of her juices and his saliva...

One hand continued to pinch their nipples while the other gently parted their folds and dipped their fingertips into the waiting wetness before withdrawing and smearing their juices around their clitoris. "Oooh... yes, I like that," they murmured breathlessly to themselves.

They parted their legs a little wider and carried on rolling their clitoris between their fingers, eyes closed, more and more lewd memories pouring into their mind. Peridot riding Steven to orgasm, her lips wrapped firmly around his cock, his eager tongue pressing into her dripping pussy... a new and yet somehow familiar feeling was building up within them as their fingers moved faster and faster. The other hand abandoned their breasts and instead, they plunged two fingers into themselves, then three. Their thumb brushed against their clit from another angle and with a shuddering gasp, they came. "Oh! I love you, I love _me,_ I love _us,"_ they babbled, hugging themselves tightly.

Their was a flash of light, and they found themselves in each others arms. For a moment, they gazed at each other, and then Steven's lips crashed upon Peridot's. "That was amazing, _we_ were amazing," he said breathlessly. "Did you enjoy it? Was it good?"

"I loved it," she said with a wide grin, and snuggled closer to him. "I had no idea fusion could feel like _that._"

"I feel like I should very definitely clarify that it's never felt like that for me before either," Steven said quickly, making her laugh. He smiled and gave her another kiss. "But I'm glad you had a good time."

"I did." She smiled serenely. "So when can we do it again?"

"Soon. Very soon," he assured her. Then her rolled her over and pinned her beneath him. "But until then..." he said with a wicked grin. "Shall we have another go at fusing the old-fashioned way?"

xxx

A/N: Hooray, I got it all done on time this year! Gotta say, I definitely preferred the monthly format to the weekly one this year. I felt a lot less rushed because I was able to write the prompts during each week and post them at the end instead of having to take a month off in advance to have enough to post every day, so I'm hoping next year follows the same format. And I'm going to keep the bonus prompts aside for if I get blocked writing Living Arrangements, so this may get a couple more updates in the future. But even if it doesn't, it was a lot of fun, I enjoyed writing these little one-shots and I hope you all enjoyed reading them. Thank you!


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